Improvement in air engines



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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. CAMERON, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have inventeda new and improved Vacuum Air Engine; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, c1ear,and exact descriptionthercof. v

The object of this invention is to form a vacuum by the expansion of air by heat, and by other appliances,

by which the piston of a working cylinder may be driven by the simple pressure of the atmosphere, and power obtained thereby for driving machinery or other purposes; and the invention consists principally in providing a vacuum-chamber and bellows, a movable fire-box, a h'ot-air chamber-,a water-cistern, and pump, which, in addition to suitable valves, pipes, rods, and water-cocks, lvttc., accomplish the object I have in view.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and nse my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation, referencebeng had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in whichl Figure 1 represents a vertical sectional elevation, and

Figure 2 a sectional horizontal view through the hot-air chamber.

Similar letters indicate like parts in the drawings. V

A represents the vacuum-chamber; B, the tire-box, and oZ the blast pipe in the fire-box. C is the hot-air chamber; 1 the bellows-head; E, the watcr-cistern or reservoir. Furepresents thc pump; Gr, the valve sliding on the bottom of the hot-air chamber C.A H is the rod to the valve G; I is the bed-plate or base, upon which the apparatus rests; and J represents the rods, which support the hot-air chamber and water-cistern.

These rods pass up through the bed-plate I, and through the bottom plate ofthe hot-air chamber C, having shoulders near their upper ends, upon which the hot-ai`r chamber rests, and to which it is fastened by screw-nuts.

The vacuum-chamber A is raised from the bed-plate suiciently high to allow pipes to be vattached to the bottom,'from the pump, and also from the working cylinder. These pipes are indicated by the letters b and z'.

There is a thin lining, t', inside the vacuum-chamber and the outside covering, with a water space between, indicated by the letter a. This Water-space is in communication with the water-cistern E. The bellows D operate inside-of the liningl and water-space, being surrounded by the lining, and may be of any suitable construction, the head D working loosely, andbeing supported by a spiral spring, e, by which it is elevated, and which also elevates the fire-box when the apparatus is in operation, as hereafter described.

There is an aperture through the top of the bellows-head at c, with a valve opening upwards, through which air'is forced into the tire by the action ofthe bellows. This valve is represented as closed in the drawing.

The hre-box or furnace is a short section of a cylinder, with a grated bottom, as seen at g, on which the tire rests, and under which there is an ash-pit, g.

Theblast pipe oZ is rmly attached to the {irc-box, `the` lower end extending dpwn below the ash-pit, the

end closing over-the valve and aperture in the top of the bellows-head when in operation, and receiving the A discharged air therefrom. There are holes through the sides of this pipe, (that is the portion of it which passes through the re,) and through which the air is discharged into the fire. .At the top of this pipe the rod f is attached, from which the {ire-box is suspended, and by which it is operated.

The hot-air chamber C is a square box resting upon the rods J.. It has an inner lining of thin metal, which is so placed that a water-space, 2t/,is left between this lining and outside case. This water-space is in communication with the waterpipes m and n, which supply and discharge the water therefrom.

Throughthe bottom of this hot-airchan1ber there is an aperture larger in diameter than the ire-box B, a

space, o, being left around the tire-box, suiicient for the escape of air from the vacuum-chamber into the hote" nir chamber. There is a' door in the side of this hotfair chamber for the introduction of fuel to the furnace,

and a tube, P, set upon its top, with a valve Lin it, which opens and closes when necessary. The smoke, gasesp and hea-ted air escape from the hot-air chamber through this tube. The valve G slides on the bottom 0G the hot-air chamber, and is operated by the rod H. It is secured to its place by the piecespp, which are'grooved on the lower side, and being firmly fastened to the bottom of the chamber the valve works in these grooves, and is secured and guided thereby in its motion back and forth. The oice of the valve is to close the aperture through the bottom of the chamber C. The water-cistern E supplies the water to the water-space around the vacuum-chamber A through the pipe S; Athe water being let'on and shut off by the valves v, on thel bottom of the rod T, inside the cistern E. y j

rThe water is supplied to the cistern through the pipe S.' The pump F is used to withdraw the water from around the vacuum-chamber through the pipe z'.

The rod T works air-tight through the topof the water-cistern, and the rods f and H, as well as T, work through stu-lng-boxes, as seen atx.` The water-spaces aroundthe vacuum-chamber and hot-air chamber are for the purposel of partially condensing the air and products of combustion, and also to prevent over-heating.

The Ire=b0x, valves, and. other working partsof nxy apparatus are, worked and operated by the usual mechanical means.

This vacuum engine being intended to'produce a vacuum merely for a. working cylinder, it is not deemed necessary to describe that cylinder, it being constructedlin the usual manner with ports, piston, valves, Ste.

v The operation is asfollows: The irebox I3 vdescends from the position represented Vin the drawing, down into the vacuum-chamber, forcing down the bellows. The air in the vacuum-chamber becomes greatly rareed and escapes upward. A portion esca-pesthrough the top ofthe bellows, and is discharged into the fire through the blast pipe d, and a portion escapes around the lire-box, through the space o, into the hot-air chamber above.

VThe tire-box is immediately raised into the hot-air chamber, and the valve' G is quicklyclosed over'the aperture,

leaving a vacuum'in the vacuum-chamber. Into this chamber4 the workingcylinder is exhausted vthrough the l pipe b, and the atmospheric pressure upon the opposite side of the piston in that cylinder furnishes the power which I obtain.

This operation is-repeatedat every stroke of the piston. -Tlie valve G is Withdrawn, the fire-box descends,

and another vacuum is formed as before, and the working cylinder is exhausted from the other end, and so on at each revolution. l v I do not broadly claim the forming of a vacuu'm 'by rarefying the air, or otherwise, to receive the exhaust of a working cylinder; but what I do claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination ofthe vacuum-chamber A- and the hot-air chamber C, when constructed and arranged as described. I

2. I claim the lire-'box B, with its blast pipe el, and the water-cistern E, in combination with the vacuumcharnber A, constructed and operating substantially as herein set forth. 3. I also claim the inner lining Zi', for the purpose of forming more rapidly a vacuum in A, and also th bellows D, in combination with the vacuumchatnber A., substantially as herein described, for the purposes specified.

J. R. CAME RON.

Witnesses:

LEONARD S. JOHNS, PETER Hernan, THOMAS NELSON. 

